21, 797. 21, 291. To an average person, these numbers may seem meaningless. To a Celtics fan, these numbers represent greatness. Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird on Tuesday night to become the second highest scorer in Celtics history; behind only to the great John Havlicek who has 26,395 points.
Pierce went into last nights game only needing ten points to pass Larry. He finished with 15 but did not break the record until he hit a three early in the second half with 10:23 remaining. Pierce said after the game that it was on his mind. "I'm not going to lie, it was hanging over my head too much." This may be the reason for him only scoring only 15 points all game, but now he says he just wants get on with basketball and try to bring a title back to Boston. "Then Coach (Doc Rivers) said, 'Hurry up and get it out of the way.' It was a relief once I hit that one 3, so I could really concentrate and focus on the game."
The game itself was a bit shaky and the Celtics were not able to pull away until late in the third quarter. Most would slay sloppy play, but it seemed that the team was just forcing the issue to Pierce to get past this record thing.
When a player is close to breaking a record, no matter how many times they say that it's not on their minds, it is. Pierce has been lights out for the last few weeks, and him struggling in the points category last night only shows more that records do matter to all players. Basketball is a difficult game, but throughout his career, the Truth has made it look like another day in the park in Inglewood Calif. In few years, Pierce's number 34 will be right below 00.
The game itself was a bit shaky and the Celtics were not able to pull away until late in the third quarter. Most would slay sloppy play, but it seemed that the team was just forcing the issue to Pierce to get past this record thing.
When a player is close to breaking a record, no matter how many times they say that it's not on their minds, it is. Pierce has been lights out for the last few weeks, and him struggling in the points category last night only shows more that records do matter to all players. Basketball is a difficult game, but throughout his career, the Truth has made it look like another day in the park in Inglewood Calif. In few years, Pierce's number 34 will be right below 00.
